UCI vice-president and Oceania president Tracey Gaudry believes the benefits of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race being awarded WorldTour status from 2017 outweighs any negatives and will ensure Australia remains a crucial player on the world scene. The elevation of the Victorian one-day race to the top tier of the sport in its third year removes it from the Oceania Tour calendar but Gaudry believes opportunities will be created for the Continental teams who are no longer eligible to enter the race.
"The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race has been a massive success in terms of the position of the event in the global calendar and it was established as a 1.1 event only two years ago," Gaudry told Cyclingnews of the January 29 race which is now one of 37 WorldTour events. "This year it achieved HC status and its quality and caliber and of the elements that are assessed by the UCI enabled it to be promoted to WorldTour status from next year onwards.
"What that does is cement Australia, with the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and Santos Tour Down Under, as the start proper of the WorldTour season. That is an exceptional result for the positioning of cycling in the world and positioning of Australia as a powerhouse in cycling. One of the consequences of being promoted to WorldTour status is that the teams eligible are WorldTour teams, the national team of the country and Pro-Continental. The impact of that means that Continental teams are not eligible to take part and for a region like Oceania where there are a small number of Continental tour events on the calendar, it is important that we look at a regeneration of Continental level events."
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As one of ten new WorldTour events in 2017, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race is obliged to invite all 18 WorldTour teams to participate with a minimum of ten teams on the start line. The UCI are yet to announce the points structure for the new WorldTour events with teams to pick and choose which new races they add their programmes for 2017 alongside lower rated HC and .1 events. With its place on the calendar as the first new WorldTour race and just one week after Australia's first WorldTour race, Tour Down Under, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race could be a more attractive proposal for the WorldTour teams than races later in the season that will clash with other WorldTour events for example.
In the US, the elevation of the Tour of California to WorldTour status in American has created uncertainty for Continental teams and in a similar predicament to the Australian domestic teams
Outlining the process of introducing the new races onto the WorldTour calendar, Gaudry explained that she doesn't believe the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race will have an advantage over other new WorldTour events, adding the Australian summer conditions are likely to be of equal consideration for teams planning their race programmes.
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